CHESTNUT HILL, Mass.—The Virginia baseball team earned a triumphant 3-0 victory over Boston College Friday afternoon in the first game of their ACC weekend series. Not only did the Wahoos mark their territory on BC’s Eddie Pellagrini Diamond at Commander Shea Field, but third year pitcher Connor Jones (6-1) delivered his first career complete game shutout.
Despite tough competition, Jones struck out four and walked four in the first nine-inning shutout by a Virginia starter since Nathan Kirby in April of 2014. Virginia’s dominant right-hander controlled the mound, giving up only one hit in the ballgame, a single to Boston College’s Donovan Casey. Friday’s game was also the first complete game pitched by a UVA pitcher since Brandon Waddell shut down Vanderbilt in 2014’s CWS Finals.
Boston College pitcher Jacob Stevens (2-1) struck out six, only giving up one run and one hit in his 6-inning start. However, Virginia’s line-up took advantage of BC’s three defensive errors to score three unearned runs.
Second year Adam Haseley scored first for Virginia in the third inning when third year shortstop Daniel Pinero earned a walk with bases loaded. Pinero went on to walk three more times throughout the game, and Haseley scored twice.
With a score of 1-0 at the top of the ninth, a pair of Virginia second years stepped up to the plate to score two insurance runs—Justin Novak capitalized on an infield throwing error to score after Haseley laid down a sacrifice bunt, and Ernie Clement knocked a single through the infield to score Haseley.
Boston College had a chance to tie the game after Jones walked two batters in the bottom of the ninth. However, Jones’ resiliency and talent led him to strike out Casey with a full count and earn Virginia an essential victory.
On Saturday the Hoos dropped game two of the series as a pair of ninth inning errors cost Virginia the game. With two outs in the bottom of the final frame, BC pinch hitter Chris Balogh singled to center before being lifted for a pinch runner. Pinch runner Dominic Hardaway stole second and advanced to third thanks to an errant throw on the steal attempt.
Virginia pitcher Tommy Doyle delivered the 3-2 payoff pitch to BC batter, Johnny Adams, a swing-and-a-miss on a ball in the dirt. A throw down to first base was all that stood between the Hoos and some extra inning baseball, but catcher Matt Thaiss threw the ball away, allowing Adams to reach safely and the winning run to cross the plate.
After splitting the first two games of the series, the Wahoos are now 20-13 overall. The rubber game of this matchup is set for 1pm Sunday, April 10th.
